Christine Donkin is a Canadian composer of choral, orchestral, chamber, and solo piano works. Her compositions are frequently performed by ensembles across North America, including Symphony New Brunswick, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Guitar Quartet, the DaCapo Chamber Choir, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and the Capital Chamber Choir. She has initiated various collaborations, commissioning several Canadian poets and composers, and working with Peterborough-based Indigenous vocal-percussion ensemble Unity in two projects commissioned by the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. She is currently collaborating with her sister, pianist Catherine Donkin, to make professional recordings of many of her solo piano compositions. Christine owes a debt of gratitude to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Ottawa, and the SOCAN Foundation for the funding to make these projects possible.
As an educator, Christine is constantly witness to the process through which musicians must go in order to acquire the skills that they need as professionals, and for this reason, she also prioritizes the creation of music for students of all levels. Her pedagogical compositions and arrangements for piano, violin, and other instruments are featured in the publications of several music exam organizations, including the largest in Canada (the Royal Conservatory of Music) as well as two of the largest in the world (the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and Trinity College London); and as such are used by music students and teachers in many countries. The 2021 RCM violin syllabus includes 36 of her compositions and arrangements (23 of which appear in the printed books); and the 2022 RCM piano syllabus includes 32 of her compositions (with 10 of those in the printed books), making Christine one of the best represented composers in both series.
As well as composing, Christine works with student composers in private lessons and as a clinician and adjudicator in collaboration with various music organizations, which have included Contemporary Showcase festivals, regional and provincial music festivals, the Victoria Conservatory of Music, VIMA (Vancouver Island Music Academy), YES Chamber Music Camp, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Ottawa Summer Music Academy, the Prince George Conservatory of Music, and Summer Sizzle. She also teaches theory and composition at the Victoria Conservatory.